Title

basketball bounce

Problem Scenario

There are some people playing a basketball game and one ball is smaller then the other. One bounces more then the other but they don't know which one it is?

Broad Question

What are the affects that the volume of a basketball have on it's bounce?

Specific Question

Does a bigger or smaller volume make the basketball bounce higher or lower?

Hypothesis

I think that the basketball that has a smaller volume will bounce higher then the bigger volume.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: The volume of the basketball

Dependent Variable: the bounce of the basketball

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

The height that the basketball is dropped.
The PSI that the balls are filled
the volume of the basketballs

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

---

---

---

---

General Plan

I am going to find out if the volume of a basketball effects the height that the basketball bounces. So I am going to get a small basketball and a regular boys basketball. Then I am going to drop them from the same height and see weather the boys basketball bounces higher then the smaller or if the smaller basketball bounces higher then the boys basketball.

Potential Problems And Solutions

It is going to be really hard to drop the balls from the same height so I will have to make a unit that drops the ball.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

Don't stand under the basketball when it is dropped.

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

What is your experimental unit?

This is the base unit of your experiment, for example, one plant, one ice cube, one dish. It is the thing you will be measuring.
The volume of a basketball

Number Of Trials:

This is how many times you will repeat the experiment.
3 times

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

This is the number of different treatments you will use. For example, if you are comparing rust formation using salt and no salt, there would be 2 subjects in each trial. If you were comparing rust formation with no salt and three different amounts of salt, then you would have 4 subjects in each trial.
1 basketballs of each volume

Number of Observations:

How many measurements will you take for each experimental unit times the number or trials
1 per measurement

When data will be collected

Looking for an actual date or dates here. This is requiring you to commit to your project.
Feb,1 And Feb,2 2013

Where will data be collected?

Be specific.
I'll drop the balls off of my roof

Comparative Study

Number Of Comparison Categories:

How many different things you will be comparing
3 different basket balls

Number of Comparison Samples:

How many samples of each different thing above.
1 of each

Number Of Observation In Each Sample:

For each comparison, how many things will you be measuring?
I will be measuring 2 things

When data will be collected

Looking for an actual date or dates here. This is requiring you to commit to your project.
March 16th

Where will data be collected?:

Be specific.
At school in my science teachers room

Innovation

What is your experimental unit?

This is the base unit of your experiment, for example, one plant, one ice cube, one dish. It is the thing you will be measuring.
2 basketballs, One Regular and One Small

Number Of Trials:

This is how many times you will repeat the experiment.
I will do this experiment 3 times

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

This is the number of different treatments you will use. For example, if you are comparing rust formation using salt and no salt, there would be 2 subjects in each trial. If you were comparing rust formation with no salt and three different amounts of salt, then you would have 4 subjects in each trial.
I will have 2 basket balls of different volume and sizes.

Number of Observations:

How many measurements will you take for each experimental unit times the number or trials
One measurement

When data will be collected

Looking for an actual date or dates here. This is requiring you to commit to your project.

March 22/23 2013

Where will data be collected?:

Be specific
In the back of my teachers room.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Smaller basketball	1	My house	$0
Boy's basketball	1	My house	$0

Detailed Procedure

I am going to make a ball release mechanism that will drop the basketballs.
Then I will get a regular size boys basketball.
Next I will measure the mass of the ball.
Then I will put the a ball into the ball release mechanism.
While I do this I will have a yard stick next to the ball realease mechanism.
After that I will drop the ball 3 times and find the mean of the drops.
Then I will repeat the above procedures that I did for the regular size boys basketball but this time I will use the smaller ball.
Once I have all of the data that I need I will be able to see the result of the regular ball,and the smaller ball, the volume of the 2 balls will also help me make my conclusion.
When I'm done with everything I will have my answer.

Diagram

Photo List

Time Line

march 10th I will do my experiment. march 16 I will finish my wiki. Then on march 20th I will start on my poster. Then I will be ready for the science fair on the

---

Data Table

---

---

---

Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

Results

After doing my project I looked at the data I collected then I got the mean of the scores. I found that the smaller basketball bounced higher then the regular basketball. This is the results that I got: the height of the regular basketball bounces. 29 inches, 28 inches, and 30 inches. Then I got the mean which was really easy because of the numbers. Then I looked at the data for the smaller basketball which was: 33 inches, 35 inches, and 31 inches. The mean for the regular basketball was 29 inches and the mean for the smaller basketball was 33 inches. So the results say that the smaller basket ball bounces higher.

Conclusion

By the end of my experament I had everything that I needed to have to anwser my question. I had all of my data and all of the research done. I also was able to see which basketball would bounce the highest. I thought it was really cool to know that the smaller the volume of the basketball the higher the bounce. Well at least to a certain point. I'm pretty sure that a really small basketball wouldn't bounce as high as the basketball did. I also learned a lot of things about a basketball too. I learned that the temperature of the room that a basketball is in affects the height that it bounces. I also learned a lot of other things like that. I am very happy to happy to have done the basketball project. Now that I know about the bounce of basketball a little more I might be able to find the basketball with the perfect bounce. I might also be able to find out what basketballs would bounce higher at certain heights. This is why I thought that the basketball bounce Project was so cool and a really good idea.

Discussion

In my experiment I was testing if the volume of a basketball affects its bounce. The data showed that it did and I found out the smaller volume bounces higher. The relationship between my independent and dependent variable was really strong I thought because the independent variable is affected dependent variable. I was able to answer my experimental question and the data shows that the smaller volume had the bigger bounce. I thought that my project went really well and there wasn't any problems with the data or the graphs. I think that my project could have been a lot better and more creative. I could have had more balls with different volumes and different drop height.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

My project helps the community in a few different ways. One of those ways is that I can create the perfect basketball with the perfect bounce. I would have to do a lot more work with it but it might be easyer now because of my project and all of my reasearch. I think that my project could help the NBA and other companies to have the perfect basketball, but it probably will never happen. That's how my project could help the community.

Background Research

The air pressure inside a basketball has the biggest affect on bounce,but the outside air pressure and temperature of the area you are in all affect it too. The basketball also bounces the highest at certain heats usually in warmer temperatures. This is true because when gas is heated, the molecules become excited and move around more quickly. This causes the gas to expand. Temperature affects the air in the basketball, which affects how the ball bounces. When the temperature is higher, the air in the ball expands, causing greater pressure. The basketballs also bounces different in different conditions too. Some are made for the outdoors and some are made for the indoor courts for games. Most of the basketball have an "indoor" or "outdoor" label on it.

References

Abstract

My experiment was about the bouncing height of a basketball and volume. In my hypothesis I stated that I thought the smaller volume was going to bounce higher then the bigger volume. After I did the actual experiment I was able to prove my hypothesis right. I was able to because the smaller volume basketball bounced higher then the larger volume basketball. So I made a machine that would hold the balls and when I pulled on a piece of wood. Then when the ball dropped I recorded the height of the bounce. I dropped each ball three times. Then when I had all of the data I made a graph of it and compared the data. I found that the smaller volume had a bigger bounce then the bigger volume basketball.